Transferred

"So now that everyone is assigned to their departments, please head back to work." Mr. Mathews said, "and make sure to give your best. Good luck on your first day."

The conference hall was filled with the sounds of shifting chairs, everyone headed out. Nora got assigned to the Research and Development department, she was satisfied but not truly happy, she hoped to get into the Innovation department. "It's okay, you can always work on your ideas. For now, just focus on what you got in front of you." She murmured and stepped out of the hall where she was stopped by a woman. Nora recognised her immediately, the woman was seated beside Sheldon O'Connor during the meeting. "Miss Williams, I am Katie, Mr. O'Connor's secretary. I am here to escort you to his office, he wishes to have a few words with you."

"With me? Is it something serious?" Nora asked. Katie smiled politely, "No it's not serious. Please if you would." She started toward the elevator followed by Nora.

The elevator rose to the 28th floor and the doors opened, Katie stepped out, Nora followed. "He's waiting for you." She motioned toward the big double doors.

Nora knocked on the door twice before she got a response, "Come in." She pushed the door open. The office was huge, with a mahogany desk in the middle and a big chair behind it which was turned away from her. The room was lighted by the sunlight coming through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The chair turned around, Sheldon O'Connor was on his phone, he gestured toward her to sit on the chair across him.

"Yes. I'll get back to you later." He said and hung up." He leaned back in his chair and smiled at her, "So Nora, you finally made it."

"Yes it seems so." She replied.

"What do you say? Is it good here?"

"Sure it is. I promise to work hard and prove an asset to your company."

He smiled at her response and shook his head, "Please relax. It's nothing serious, I'm not firing you or anything." She visibly relaxed, "So what is it?"

"Okay then I'll get straight to the point. You were assigned to the R&D, right? I want you to give this to its head." He put an envelope on the table. "It's a transfer letter. You're being transferred to the Innovation department. I cannot see a talent like you there, to be frank. It'll drain you. So I need you in here–" he tapped on the envelope, "You can create stuff, like you always wanted to. Unless you accept it. I mean, I am not forcing you. You can throw that letter in my face if you want to." He shrugged.

She looked down at the envelope, "But why did you assign me to R&D in first place?"

"You see, I was away for some time and the intern training took place in my absence, hence the mess up. Moreover, it was already decided if you were to join the company, you were to be assigned to the Innovation department. I only got the news today, about you being here. I know R&D is a good place for you, but this one is better." He paused. Nora was looking at him intently, "And you know that you're someone who doesn't like taking orders, you work for yourself. And accepting this, you surely can do that." He smiled.

Nora looked down at the envelope in front of her and thousands of thoughts came crashing in her mind. "Are you sure I'm eligible to be in there?"

"Yes I am sure." He said with a smirk. "Nora you are the best candidate. You're young, enthusiastic and not to forget a little crazy when it comes to ideas. And I need just that, the company needs that. So what do you say?"

After a few minutes of silence she spoke with determination, "Okay then I'm in. I'll do it." Sheldon slid the envelope toward her, "Here you go." He said, "Now I officially welcome you to Living Tech."

Nora was elated she finally did it, she took the letter and got up, thanking him she left his office. Katie was outside at her table, she smiled politely on seeing her and Nora returned it.

She headed straight to the R&D department to hand out the letter. And to her surprise the head took it with a smile, stating he was already expecting her to bring the letter.

Now with full enthusiasm she took the elevator to the Innovation department. It was huge and looked more like a lounge, with walls painted in warm shades and couches seated around the place. There were rooms, incase anyone wanted a little solitude. She stood there until a middle-aged man, probably in his mid-thirties came and greeted her. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, complete opposite to the people she saw here. "I was expecting you Nora," he said with a big smile, "let's go to my cabin, I'll explore everything." He started walking toward a room.

The so called cabin was barely furnished. The room was big but only had a table and two bean bags. As if sensing her doubt he spoke, "This is how most of the rooms are. You can furnish them as you want. The company doesn't interfere much."

They both settled down on the bean bags, "So Nora I'll get down to business. This department doesn't work like the others. The department is given targets by the board and a time period. How we achieve them doesn't concern them, they just want the end result. Most of our members work from home but if you wish to come here you can. The sole reason you are here is that you can create stuff, I heard your Hackathon story. You want to bring about a change and that's what we are here for. We will provide you with any assistance, you can work your way but we need the results. End of discussion."

"That sounds easy." Nora murmured.

"It does," he says, making Nora look at him, "but there's a catch. You see, even as employees we are not bound to the rules and regulations laid down by the company, we work our own way. And you might have also noticed that we have a higher pay compared to the other departments. And all of these things come at a price, all the members here are given a time period to present their ideas. If they fail to achieve it they are fired." Nora's eyes shot back at him. "Yes they are immediately fired, no second chances. They give us everything we need, no restrictions at all. So they expect more. It's simple." He shrugged, "Here you go. Since you're a newbie you have two months." He handed her a file and leaned back in his bean bag.

"So that's it?" Nora opened the file.

"Yeah that's it. You can head back home now. That's it for our orientation ceremony. We might see each other again in a few days, weeks or months. Who knows." He shrugged.

"Are you sure. I mean no working hours or anything, I can actually head back now?" She asked.

"Yes you can. You were the last member here, you saw that no one was around. Right? They headed back. I was waiting for you. And it you have any trouble feel free to contact me anytime." He said getting up. Nora looked down at the file in her hands and then got up, she was finally in the place she wanted to be and she promised herself to prove herself worth this.